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Hunt the Truth?

A week ago 343 Industries announced the release date for its highly anticipated continuation of Master Chief’s saga, Halo 5: Guardians. Though excitement was at an all time high, they also dropped the narrative equivalent of a bomb in the form of two conflicting trailers.

“Is this what you wanted? Is this what you were looking for? Was everything you compromised, everything you’ve done. Was it? was it?”

What I can’t help but wonder as we watch the Master Chief look up at his own statue, is he talking to Locke… or himself? Are we seeing a soldier angry at another soldier for compromising himself? Or is this the internal dialogue of someone who has possibly betrayed what he knew for what he believes?

Where will Halo 5: Guardians take us?

And what part will Spartan Locke play in it all?

“All hail the conquering hero. Let us remember him as our protector and not the one who gave us this. As our savior and not our betrayer.”

Has Locke truly uncovered a dark secret about the very Spartan whose journey we’ve followed since the very beginning? Or are we seeing a confrontation of two soldiers as the result of a greater misunderstanding?

If we are about to witness the fall of a hero, 343 has done a masterful job in casting us as the Halo Universe’ public. While we may not have a great stone statue of the protagonist, we definitely came to know him as the one who saves the day. We’ve played him, we’ve watched his story in various mediums. The idea that this character could also betray us is almost unthinkable.

343 also launched a “Hunt the Truth” tumblr to serve as a host for in-universe audio and photos supplied by Benjamin Giroud, a journalist and war photographer from the Halo Universe. Every week he supplies evidence regarding his own investigation, seemingly intent on unraveling the hero-myth surrounding the Master Chief.